Kinney drums up enthusiastic response for tsunami benefit

Alice in Chains drummer Sean Kinney describes tonight's tsunami benefit as a "bar stool idea" that snowballed into one of the hottest concert tickets in Seattle this winter.

The sold-out K-Rock (KRQI-FM/96.5) Tsunami Continued Care Relief Concert at Premier nightclub features Kinney and fellow Alice in Chains members Jerry Cantrell (guitar) and Mike Inez (bass), who haven't performed together publicly since 1996.

But Kinney isn't calling it an Alice in Chains reunion.

"There'll never be an Alice reunion for the obvious reasons," he said before rehearsals this week. "It's impossible to have a reunion without Layne (Staley). For me, Alice ended when we lost him, and we don't have any ambition of trying to replace him. It just doesn't work."

Lead singer Staley died in April 2002 from a fatal mix of heroin and cocaine.

"It'll be fun to play some tunes we haven't played together in a long time, for a good cause," Kinney said. "That's the whole focus of it. It's not really about us getting together."

Joining Kinney, Cantrell and Inez is a long list of other local and national music stars, including Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, Ann Wilson of Heart, Chris DeGarmo of Queensryche, Supersuckers, Children of the Revolution and rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot and his group, Outtasite.

Recently added to the show are Seattle musician Shawn Smith of Pigeonhed, Brad and other groups and Pat Lachman of metal band Damageplan, whose guitarist, "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, was killed last year in a club shooting.

Kinney is expecting other guests, among them guitarist, producer and engineer Scott Olson, who played with Alice in Chains on "MTV Unplugged" and engineered Cantrell's first solo album.

"We'll see what happens and who's around," Kinney said with a chuckle. "When people get their drink on, who knows what could happen."

Kinney came up with the idea of doing a tsunami benefit for CARE after making a donation and realizing "it just didn't seem like enough." So he made calls to his former band members, as well as friends in the music community, such as former Alice in Chains manager Susan Silver and Premier owner Mark Naficy. He was surprised by the enthusiastic response.

"I'm lucky enough to know all these talented people, like Ann Wilson, who just stepped right up," Kinney said.

"They all started calling me and offering their time. Without that, it would never have happened. It's pretty amazing that people are coming from around the globe for this. In fact, it's pretty shocking."

Kinney, Cantrell and Inez will play a mostly acoustic set that includes favorite rock tunes as well as a few Alice in Chains songs.

"Hopefully we still remember them," Kinney said with a laugh. "We're going to find out shortly. But it'll be great."

Inez, who replaced original Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr in the early '90s, also has played with Heart and will join Wilson on stage during the show.

Novoselic may serve as master of ceremonies, but it was undecided earlier this week.

"He's very political and sharp," Kinney said of the former Nirvana bassist. "I told him, 'Do whatever you want to do. Bring your accordion if you want.' "

In addition to money raised from ticket sales, sponsor KRQI-FM has raised more than $17,500 from its on-air auctions of everything from tickets and backstage passes to autographed guitars donated by Band Aid Music.

Volunteers from CARE, the international humanitarian organization, will be on hand to accept donations. For more information about CARE, go to www.careusa.org.